Two months previously, a close friend of Kari's, a historian named Gina Vasari, was murdered. The way she was murdered resulted in sensationalistic newspaper stories, and these grated on Kari's boss, Dag Tanager, who had employed Gina when she was a young woman straight out of university. She worked for him as a pilot, and she was the first employee of Tavco, the company he created and continues to manage. He knew her as a good Catholic girl who regularly went to mass and who was nothing like the thrill-seeking playgirl portrayed by the newspapers. She didn't remain with Tavco, but rather went on to become a historian, teaching at Rayneval University, where she became a mentor to Kari. Dag wants to learn the truth about Gina's death, and he believes Kari can uncover it.
Unwilling to disclose his true motives to Kari, Dag instead tells her about a book Gina was working on at the time of her death, a biography of the Arctic explorer Samuel Hearne. It was a work Tavco sponsored, and he asked the police to alert him once they found either a paper copy or an electronic version. But thus far, no version has turned up, even though there is plenty of evidence indicating that Gina was working assiduously to finish it. Dag tells Kari that he regards it as company property, and he asks her to locate it for him.
Kari goes to Lucerna, and her move causes Malory to change his plans. He too goes to Lucerna. He and Kari soon find themselves caught up in inquiries that force them to look backward into the past. The events they explore occurred at three different eras in time.
Era one is the immediate past, and the focus is Gina. Kari begins by asking questions that pertain to the assignment Dag Tanager gave her. Malory provides her with some assistance, and it isn't long before the two of them begin to investigate Gina's death. Their questioning leads to the formulation of a list of what they call "the Gina mysteries." The list is a long one, and the more they learn about Gina's enigmatic past, the longer it becomes.
Era two is the late eighteenth century, and the focus is on two extraordinary figures: Samuel Hearne, a British employee of the Hudson's Bay Company, and Jean-François de Lapérouse, a French naval officer. The two men had a fateful encounter during the American War of Independence, when Hearne was commanding a fort on the edge of Hudson Bay, and Lapérouse was given orders to capture it.
Hearne surrendered without a fight, and historians have been unable to explain why he did so, especially in light of the fact that the fort was impregnable. Historians also have been unable to say whether Hearne provided Lapérouse with geographic information he was subsequently able to use when the French Minister of Marine ordered him to sail to the North Pacific and seek a navigable waterway through the North American continent. Kari believes that Gina found the answers to both questions.
Era three is the late fourth century and the beginning of the fifth, the time when the Roman Empire was starting to collapse. The focus for this period is the pagan philosopher Eliana, who lived in North Africa at the time St. Augustine was Bishop of Hippo, and who mocked many of his ideas. Kari's knowledge of Eliana's teachings is so extensive that Malory wonders if she once time-travelled to the ancient Roman world in order to study at Eliana's feet. He would also like to know something about those teachings himself because they guide much of Kari's behaviour.
The three historical inquiries are seamlessly interwoven as Malory and Kari pursue their investigations. They find certain answers, but at a huge cost. They also discover something that neither of them had anticipated. Their relationship is no longer what it was.
